


Baby, It's F-cking Cold Outside

by nononokey



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/M, fluffy socks with hearts, it's really cold out there, like the ending, protective Logan, slightly graphic loss of minor body parts, waiting for rescue, warm comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-30 01:03:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10865808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nononokey/pseuds/nononokey
Summary: Logan and Marie are stuck in the middle of snowy, freezing nowhere waiting to be rescued. There's time to think about some things, and time to argue about others - like Logan's way of keeping Marie warm. A couple of minor body parts are lost to the frostbites, no big deal, right? Later Marie reciprocates the warmth as a thank-you.(pre-romantic relationship) (rated Mature for a couple of words of strong language, some nondescript adult thoughts and the hopefully only slightly graphic loss of some fingers and toes!)





	Baby, It's F-cking Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the lovely temperatures we're having at this time of the year!  
> Takes place after X3, character age-wise, but no one is dead and The Cure isn't mentioned at all (in other words, X3 didn't really happen, haha).  
> Jean is alive because this is Marvel and no one stays dead for long.
> 
> English isn't my first language so I apologise in advance for any and all mistakes and weird phrasings.
> 
> I don't own these characters - but boy, do I wish I did; many things would have been different!

It was cold. Like, really, _really_ damn cold. She wasn't one for hot summer weather, given her need for a constant protective layer between her skin and the world, but she still preferred temperatures in which things could, you know, survive. Numbers of degrees that were larger than her clothing sizes. It was May, for crying out loud, but apparently not in this part of the world. Marie could feel her eyes frosting over every time she forced herself not to blink, and when she did blink tiny snowflakes fell off her eyelashes. The night was dark, save for the glittering stars in the sky and damned snow everywhere, but the air was white from all the puffs of breath. She shivered violently and attempted to pull the blanket tighter over herself.

Logan stomped back into view from around the cliff, his clouds of breath preceding him. "No trees for miles", he announced with a scowl. "We could walk to them, I suppose, but then we'd risk not being found in time by the team." He was glaring at their surroundings, no doubt mentally blaming the nature for being inhospitable, but then he turned to look at Marie and his face changed, softened somehow, although he still looked pissed off and in charge. "Stay put?" He wasn't really asking, she knew that, but she appreciated his effort to make her feel like a team member instead of an underling bossed around.

"Y-y-yes", Marie managed to get out despite her chattering teeth. "N-now c-come here and w-warm me up-p."

He came closer and then stopped, as she made no move to let him under the blanket. "No wonder chivalry's dead - it froze to death. Come on, kid, it'll be warmer with both of us together."

With a disapproving grunt Marie threw one end of the blanket off her and he crawled next to her underneath it, into the little makeshift shelter he'd fashioned out of the snow before leaving to search for firewood.

There had been no time to gather their gear and supplies with them when they'd fled into the wilderness, running away from the government facility they'd had under surveillance. They were safe now, Logan reckoned, but without supplies in this forgotten corner of frozen wasteland it wasn't all that great. It was bad planning, unlucky carelessness and their own mistake, and now they were going to pay the price for not being constantly prepared for everything. The X-Men were certainly no boy scouts, not in good nor in bad. Marie counted her lucky stars for having happened to be holding the blanket in her hands when Logan'd suddenly yelled at her to run. It wasn't a lot of comfort, but it was better than absolutely nothing. And Logan'd still had his comm device clipped into his belt, although the cold had quickly drained it of battery, but he'd got a call through before it went dead. At least they knew the X-Men were coming to get them - if they didn't freeze to death first.

It was _so damn_ cold. Marie shot an icy glare at all the snow surrounding them. Having no food was tough, but they'd survive that. No communication system... Well, better stay in the coordinates the X team had. But no shelter, dressed only in their mission uniforms, with one thin blanket...

"Penny for 'em", Logan rumbled, and when she looked at him she found him studying her face with a concerned expression.

"Ah h-hate s-s-n-now", she declared.

"Says the girl I met in Canada and who dated Ice Cube." But he shifted closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to him. "We stay put, under this blanket, and keep each other warm, all right?"

It would be hours before the X team was supposed to arrive. They'd been warned of that. In different - mostly, warmer - conditions, Marie wouldn't have complained of having to wait like this at all. He was cold, but still warmer than everything else around them, including herself. She nodded, half in response to him and half to herself.

She must have dozed off, because when Logan shook her awake the stars seemed to have shifted in their places. She blinked several flurries of icy sparkles onto her cheeks as she looked up at him, her cheek making a brittle sucking sound as she pulled it away from the freezing leather of his unifrom.

"You've been shaking so hard I thought you had a seizure", he explained. Not that he was much better, Marie could tell now that she was waking up; he was shivering badly as well, and there was a disconcerting paleness to his face. The crusted snow and ice in his facial hair made him look like a deranged snow beast. Like a guard monster Santa Claus would keep in his yard.

"Ah d-didn't even n-notice the c-cold in mah s-s-sleep", she said, stupefied. She was irrationally angry at Logan for having woken her up into this icy hell again, even though the sensible side of her knew it was safer to stay awake and alert. Her cheek prickled where it had been in contact with his uniform. "Ah c-can't even feel mah t-toes."

"You're so blue you look like Nightcrawler's sister." Logan's teeth were chattering as well, his Ss sibilant and Rs rolling, but she found it annoying how composed his speech was compared to her childish stuttering. Even more than that, it annoyed her that she cared about her looks and how she came off to Logan, under the circumstances.

When Logan pulled away from her, she worried for a second that he somehow knew what she had been thinking. She resisted the urge to grab a better hold of the loosened blanket and shuddered when a new breeze of air hit them. Logan gave her a look she couldn't decipher, and started unzipping his uniform.

Marie could only stare, at first. Then she shook herself into action and scrambled to stop his hands from taking the uniform off. " _N-no_! You're suffering from hyp-hypothermia! You have to k-keep your clothes on!" A small part of her winced at having to say the last sentence. In any other circumstances...

Logan sighed, an echo of a growl in the sound as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not hypothermic, but _you_ are. I'm taking off my clothes so you can put them on. This is leather, not spandex; I can't fit you inside with me even if we tried."

She gaped at him, incredulous. She was moved, and his offer was so, so tempting; it was so utterly, unbelievably cold and she understood in a flash why she could never love Bobby from the bottom of her heart. Bobby was warm on the surface, like the dapples of sun on a lake, but his heart was cold with her in the murky depths. No, she could never love someone so _cold_ , not like she loved this man here, this man who was more snowman than human right now, ice cold on the surface but with a heart of gold, this man who was trying to fight off her hands so he could give her his uniform to keep her warm... "No!" she forced herself to say. "Ah can't... Logan, you'll freeze!"

"We're both freezing! But unlike me, you don't grow back your digits when the frostbite takes them. You don't recover from being frozen to death." He pulled his feet up and started tugging his boots off.

"We could... Ah c-could... If Ah lose a toe or t-two, you could m-maybe let me b-borrow your healing..." She didn't want it to come to that, but what other option was there?

Logan paused in his undressing to smile at her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she cursed herself for that. "There's no point in both of us suffering. I don't want to watch you suffer. Put these on; the team should be here in a couple of hours at most. We'll make it." He glanced at his feet, covered in only socks now, and spread his fingers in the air for a moment. "These'll grow back."

Marie didn't take the bundle of clothing he was holding out to her. She gave him a desperate look, which he returned with exasperation.

"Put. These. On. I'm not taking a no for an answer and I'd rather not waste this effort by having us both freeze like this anyway, so put them on now. It's okay." His voice was gentle and she could see his concern for her in his eyes, but the hard set of his jaw and the grim lines cracking the ice on his face left no room for any objections.

Dejected, she took his clothes from him and started pulling them on. His uniform was too big for her, of course, but it still retained some of his meagre body warmth, and on top of her own it created a new insulating layer between her body and the shimmering death in the air. His boots were hard to pull on with her own already on, but with a satisfying thud they finally slid into her feet. The momentary exertion made her feel warmer, which was a welcome bonus. She zipped herself up, jammed his fur-trimmed har on top of her own and looked at him with her heart overflowing. "Ah'll never be able to thank you, Logan", she said. It was hard to talk again, now that the brief adrenaline rush of fear for him had faded, but this time it was difficult because of a lump in her throat. Her eyes stung with cold as the warm tears froze immediately upon contact with air.

He shrugged, which seemed hard to do as he was shaking so badly. Clad in only his undershirt and briefs, socks covering his feet, he was far from the majestic form Marie had always imagined underneath his clothes. Sure, he was big, and hairy, and muscled - but the frozen temperature and the deepness of the night made him appear diminished and humble. She knew how much it meant, to be allowed to see him like that, and she felt the tears roll down her cheeks.

He used a glove to wipe a tear off and attempted a smirk. "Come on, kid. No weeping. Not gonna be long now. Put these on too."

"Ah've taken everything from you...!" A sob racked her and she hurried to put a now doubly gloved hand to her mouth to stifle it. She noticed Logan sigh and move to hold her, and before he could do that she pulled him to her. She was now the warmth, she would now have to keep them warm.

He appeared startled at this change in their dynamic, but quickly relaxed into her embrace and pulled the blanket over them again. "M-maybe I g-give it w-willingly, M-Marie."

She wanted to bury her face into his hair, and she would have, if it wasn't white with snow. She settled for holding on to him as tightly as she could.

The rescue came with the first rays of dawn; the relieving hiss of the Blackbird landing nearby, followed by the sounds of footsteps hurrying closer. When Scott, Storm and Jean rounded the corner, Marie broke into a smile. They'd made it! They'd been found! The rising sun created glimmering halos around their saviours' heads and she had to blink away tears.

She shook herself loose. It took effort, because Logan lay in a heavy heap in her arms. He made a face and a disgruntled noise at being shaken, but tried to move himself as well. Marie almost broke into tears again at seeing how difficult it was for him. The adamantium covering his bones must have been painfully freezing to feel by now. Every part of her body ached already and she couldn't even begin to imagine how it felt for him.

"H-he g-gave me his clothes to k-keep me warm! H-help him, Ah'm okay!" she instructed the X-Men as they reached them. Jean and Storm crouched to help Logan as Scott gave Marie a hand so she could stand up. She made it onto her own two feet, but had to lean heavily into Scott to stay on them. Logan's oversize uniform hung limply on her, partially frozen, and she felt more and more awkward because of it; wearing two people's clothes while her companion had to survive with only his underclothes on felt unfair to her, no matter how well she understood the reasoning behind Logan's decision.

Logan looked terrible. His face, or the parts that weren't covered in tiny icicles, was literally white and dark blue, and Marie gasped when she noticed dark lines running under his similarly blue-tinted skin. It took her a moment to realize they were his bones - the adamantium chilling him from the inside out. Jean was looking at his hands with a furrowed brow, and Marie flinched as she followed Jean's eyes to the blackened fingers.

"These are going to fall off, Logan", Jean warned. "Your skeleton must be freezing your flesh from the inside out, and minor extremities with bones in them, like your fingers and toes, are pretty much dead."

"T-t-they're n-not t-t-the only p-p-parts", Logan replied. Scott snorted, and he gave Cyclops a dirty look, enhanced by his savage appearance. "It was h-her or m-me."

"At l-least let me give you your boots back", Marie pleaded, confused by what Logan meant by other parts... Oh. _Oh_. She felt welcome warmth flood into her face, and bent down to hide it and to occupy herself with the removal of Logan's boots.

Storm stopped her. "No use, Rogue, he's not going to be able to put them before his toes heal. Keep them on until we get to the jet."

"So how do we get Mr Literal Blue Balls over here to the Blackbird?" Scott asked, ignoring Jean's reprimanding squint. "He must weigh a ton with those metal bones."

"Y-yeah, s-s-sorry to b-b-be an inc-convenience, One-Eye. I c-c-can w-w-walk, just h-h-help me up."

Scott made sure Marie would remain standing up on her own before he joined the ladies in helping Logan off the ground. Logan's feet were stiff and evidently sore, based on the faces he made and the expletives that escaped his mouth. Guilt racked Marie, even though she knew he would heal. It hurt to see him so weak and in pain, especially at the cost of her wellbeing.

He tried to keep the blanket over him, but his deadened fingers couldn't grasp it. "I'd l-like t-t-to k-keep my decency", he growled, at no one in particular. Jean retrieved the blanket from the ground and tucked it around him, fussing over the folds and his fingers again. Marie felt a pang of jealousy, seeing Jean so close and comfortable with him, and bit it down with self-hatred. After all that he'd done for her in the last twenty-four hours, she couldn't let him be helped?!

Scott, apparently, didn't bother hiding his own feelings. "Yes, we'd all get back home better if we're not blinded by the sight of your underwear - that is, if you're even wearing any."

Logan snarled. "Hey, S-Sc-cooter, n-n-not that you're f-far off from b-blind anyway, b-b-but t-t-this one's for you." He lifted his hands up and, before anyone had the time to react, he'd bent down the fingers of one hand using the other one. There was a dull crunch and then a sound like ash crumbling down as the fingers fell on the ground in small bits and pieces and lay there, looking alien. They all stared at the remains of the digits and Marie was suddenly very happy she hadn't had any food in a day. She felt like dry-heaving, but tried to swallow her response upon seeing the stunned but relatively neutral reactions of the older adults. Storm and Jean shared a weary, knowing look. _Men_ , it seemed to say. Then, almost in unison, they all looked back up at Logan's hand, where four skeletal fingers were bent against his palm, one single finger remaining in rigid upright position.

"N-n-not q-quite what I h-had in m-mind, b-but it works", Logan said, as if losing the entire flesh of four fingers meant nothing to him. Marie was awed to notice teeny tiny growth at the knuckles - new fingers were already forming to cover the metal bones protruding from his hands, the blackness fading from his flesh as his regenerative powers kicked into high gear. It must have been working on overdrive by now, trying to keep Logan's body from succumbing to the cold entirely.

Scott was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I'm actually a little impressed. But let's get on the jet before Rogue freezes and this whole macho show ends up being in vain after all."

Storm led the way with Marie, a motherly hold on her arm that made a new lump grow in Marie's throat, and she was grateful that Jean and Scott supported the cursing-under-his-breath Logan behind them; she could hear Logan snapping off every part that he could of his frozen digits along the way and that was quite enough to make her want to gag. Safe in the Blackbird, Logan clad in a spare uniform with his own boots, and both of them tucked inside thermal blankets, with snack bars and pillows laid out for them, she studied him again. She could only see his face, which was good, but also not good because judging by his expressions, growing a whole bunch of new digits over ice-cold metal was uncomfortable - or perhaps it was just his flight discomfort -, but when he noticed her looking at him his face softened into a smile, and she whispered "Thank you" and smiled so much her face hurt and her tears ran awry.

  
/ / /

  
Back at the mansion, Xavier heard their brief reports, expressed concern over their wellbeing and thanked Logan for his selfless actions before granting, practically politely ordering both of them to take a few days off to recuperate fully. The professor asked Jean, Scott and Storm to stay behind to discuss safety plans with him, in order to prevent similar situations from occurring again. Jean wouldn't let Marie leave the room until she'd instructed the younger woman to come in for a follow-up soon. Logan _nearly_ escaped the room before Jean could demand the same from him.

He made sure Marie was safe and in one piece, with no frostbites or other injuries - she grumbled about never feeling warm again, and every part of her skin tingling as it warmed up, but she seemed all right as she headed for the kitchen on shaky legs. He then made his way to his own room to lie down. He was ravenous, but sleep felt like priority number two - Marie being number one, of course. His bed was blissfully cosy and warm. It was like falling asleep on a roasted marshmallow.

When he woke up a few hours later, he wasn't sure what had woken him up. His hunger was so bad he felt like his stomach was eating itself. Perhaps that-- No, there was a knock on the door. A delicious array of scents wafted into his room: chocolate, sugar, whiskey, fresh warm bread, butter, meat... A warm and freshly washed Marie, too.

"It's open", he said loudly.

Marie entered his room with admirable ease, considering she was carrying a fully laden tray packed with food and a hot steaming mug, and a lumpy bag full of clothes hanging off her arm. She was dressed for a snowy day, a human bundle of woolly socks, sweatpants, college sweater and an out-of-date Christmas jumper. He sat up on his bed, envying her warm clothing, as she lay the tray down on the nightstand next to him and smiled, now ill at ease. She smelt nervous, and happy. He kind of liked it.

"Thanks", he said, not wasting any time being courteous and simply grabbing a still-warm roll of bread and stuffing it into his mouth. A nearly obscene sound of pleasure made its way up from somewhere deep inside him, and he felt slightly embarrassed - until he saw Marie almost beam with happiness in response. She barely glanced at his still-mending, awkward-looking new fingers, focusing intently on his face.

"It's the least Ah could do. Ah ate, Ah took a nap, Ah took a steaming shower, Ah went to see Jean - all's well and mah toes, ears and Ah'll recover, thanks to you", she added upon seeing Logan's brows knit together in worry. "So Ah figured Ah'd do what Ah can to make you feel better, too." She gestured towards the hot chocolate, sprinkled with marshmallows. "There's quite a bit a' whiskey in that, just so you know."

He smirked at her. She knew exactly what he needed; not a medical check-up, but alcohol. "My girl." He thoroughly enjoyed the blush that spread on her face at that. Maybe, in a couple of years... If she hadn't found anyone by then... Maybe they could...

"Ah also brought you these", she continued, hopefully obliviously to the train of thoughts she'd interrupted, and started emptying the bag by his feet. First she pulled out his uniform, hat and gloves. His nose crinkled involuntarily at the metallic, nostril-burning smell of _cold_ still lingering on them, but beneath that, a far more pleasant hint of _Marie_... She, thankfully, couldn't know what he was smelling and how he felt about it, and just kept tugging clothes out of the bag. Out came soft, loose blue sweatpants with the yellow logo of a familiarly named sports team on them, and a matching college shirt. "Ah thought these were funny, even if it's not one of your good ol' Canadian teams", she grinned.

He reached out to feel them. "Funny and warm."

"And since you regularly rip through sportswear in training, maybe you can get a use out of these for a while. And these! Though maybe not in training." She held something in her hands in front of his face, an awkward grin on her own. They were socks, yes, and they looked mighty comfortable and warm - but they were also grey with huge _pink_ _hearts_ all over them and fucking _pompoms_ placed on the top.

He chewed on another bun as he contemplated her offering. "I saved your toes and now you gotta humiliate mine? They ain't even fully grown back yet!"

She laughed, a bright sound that made his heart skip a beat, and her eyes twinkled. And that was why he loved her; because she understood him, she didn't shy away from his gruffness, she didn't take shit from him. She was the only one he'd really let in, at least in this lifetime he could remember, and she had never once abused that power. In fact, she reciprocated the show of trust; he was the only person in the entire school to call her Marie, the only one to know Marie and not just Rogue. To show her how he felt about her, he took the socks from her hands and put them on, even wiggled the tiny nubs of his new toes for her delight. They _were_ very comfortable and warm socks. They were also exactly the kind of thing others would love to make jokes about, to his face. Especially Jubilee and One-Eye.

"If you tell _anyone_..." he fake growled.

She giggled. "Ah won't tell a soul. It'll be our dirty little secret."

There was a moment of silence as they looked at each other. He was filled with pride over how well Marie was doing, given everything in her life, and fondness for her and her pleasant company, sass included, and he could see in Marie's face her gratefulness for his presence in her life and her joy and affection. He had to admit, she lit up a little whenever he was in the same room with her. Or at least that's how he hoped to interpret things.

He made some space on the bed next to him and patted the empty place. "Wanna watch hockey? I taped last night's game."

" _More ice_!? Brr", Marie shivered, but climbed over him to sit on the bed - giving him a nice view of her sweatpants-covered backside as she did...

"I don't recall who's playing, but--" Logan started as he turned the small TV on with the remote, partly to distract himself from his thoughts, but Marie interrupted him.

"Ah don't care, it's hockey. Ah like watching it with you, sugah, no matter who's beatin' up who." She settled down, tucking her feet underneath the quilt and leaning on his shoulder in their usual companionable manner, and then she looked at him again with a loving smile and said, "No matter what, the Wolverine is mah favourite team. Thanks, Logan. Thank you for being you."

She was so warm, and so close... She pecked him on the cheek, quick enough not to trigger her mutation, but lingering enough to make him shiver. Maybe a couple of years was too long a time to wait with a girl like this... Maybe a couple of months, or a few weeks would be better... He hoped she didn't notice the way his fresh adolescent toes curled in her socks. The hearts bent as well. What a dirty little secret that was.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published fic in forever! I'm feeling very insecure and nervous. "Please be gentle / I'm still learning"...?
> 
> EDIT: I edited some parts due to a detail regarding Logan's skeleton that I completely overlooked - a huge warm thank you to Nebelwerfer42 for bringing it to my attention and suggesting the way to fix it!


End file.
